Recently, Expressway Spares were recognised for our achievements in workplace health and safety.

At the SafeWork NSW 2022 Excellence Showcase, Expressways Spares were honoured when they were named as Safety Champions in the category of “Outstanding Solution to a Work Health and Safety Risk – Large Business (non-government)”. The criteria wasn’t just a commitment to workplace safety, but also innovation. Expressway Spares was recognised within this category following our change in approach to an industry-standard risk assessment practice

Expressway Spares Supplying quality spare parts to the mining and earth moving industries

Like many companies within our industry, we were providing our team with a comprehensive risk assessment checklist that was to be filled out on a daily basis.

Most controls within this checklist focused on administration and PPE controls. Over time it became apparent that the former risk assessment checklist lacked worker engagement, and it soon became a “tick and flick”, with limited value to our employees.

Expressway Spares HSEQ Manager Gary Bowyer, in a recent interview with Coal Face Magazine, noted that “Whilst it met all the requirements for WHS, it was clear to us that it could be improved. Health and safety are very important to us, so we decided to overhaul our processes to further mitigate the risks to our workers.”

It has been well-researched that there is a strong correlation between employee engagement and safety in the workplace.

Some findings have reported that engaged employees were five times less likely to have a safety-related incident than non-engaged employees. Repetitive, stock standard checklists run the risk of becoming boring and habitual. The more disengaged the worker, the more likely they are to start to skip or not pay attention to safety basics.

We knew we could do better.

The first step to improving employee engagement is to create an inclusive environment where employees are able to ask questions and discuss solutions. While consulting with the team on identifying an alternate process that engaged the workforce, one team member suggested using whiteboards as they are visible in the workplace (not stored away in a cupboard after completion) and could involve the team as a whole.

From this suggestion, the Risk Assessment Process evolved, including simplifying the language so that less experienced workers and apprentices could understand and feel included.

The first step in the process was each team identifying their work area critical risk and their mitigating controls.

These critical risks were then provided on a permanent sign in each work area. At the start of each week, each team reviews their critical risk and identifies the tasks planned for the week.

The risks and mitigating controls associated with these tasks are listed on the whiteboard. When a change is introduced, the team stop work and risk assess this change and how they will manage any introduced risks using the whiteboard (this is recorded in a different colour marker, generally red).

Increased involvement in the entire safety process, including design, planning and assessment, fosters engagement amongst the team and a more positive attitude towards safety.

Since its’ introduction, we have already experienced significant declines in injuries, and other areas, such as warranty claims.

Our workers are more engaged and able to explain the risks associated with the work they are performing and how they are managing these risks. The added benefit has been an overall improvement in workplace culture, and improved worker engagement and safety is seen as a value.

We look forward to continually improving our safe systems of work into the future. We are always on the lookout for great new staff. If you’re interested in working with us, check out our jobs page.

posted March 2023

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How a simple change can re-engage your team with workplace health and safety.